Jazz Arts Trio: Peter Fraenkel (drums), Fred Moyer, Peter Tillotson (bass)
Oscar Peterson. Bill Evans. Vince Guaraldi. Erroll Garner. Horace Silver. Herbie Hancock. Chick Corea. Hear the Jazz Arts Trio bring to the concert stage the best trio performances of these historic piano giants –– all in one evening!
What can safely be called the only jazz group of its kind, the Jazz Arts Trio, through note–for–note transcriptions of historic moments in piano jazz, is keeping alive music that otherwise would live on only in recordings. The Jazz Arts Trio does not simply imitate. Rather, the three musicians infuse the music with their own vitality and interpretations, much the way a chamber music ensemble approaches Bach or Beethoven. This “classical” approach to jazz breaks down genre boundaries, delighting long-time jazz enthusiasts as well as those new to this great music. And classical music lovers will thrill to the Jazz Arts Trio's high level of artistry and technical prowess as applied to this most classic of American art forms.
The Jazz Arts Trio -- one of a kind among jazz ensembles today.
Lifetime friends, the members of the Jazz Arts Trio began playing together over 30 years ago while in junior high school in the Boston area
FREDERICK MOYER, piano
Frederick Moyer has established a vital musical career that has taken him to forty-one countries and to such distant venues as Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Sydney Opera House, Windsor Castle, Carnegie Recital Hall, Tanglewood, and the Kennedy Center. He has appeared as piano soloist with world renowned orchestras including the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the St. Louis, Dallas, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Houston, Boston, Singapore, Netherlands Radio, Latvian, Iceland and London Symphony Orchestras, the Buffalo, Hong Kong and Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, and the major orchestras of Australia. His 22 recordings on the Biddulph, GM and JRI labels comprise works by over thirty composers and reflect his affinity for a wide variety of styles.
PETER TILLOTSON, bass
Blessed with an empathic ear and cursed with an insatiable musical thirst, bassist Peter Tillotson's journey has taken him everywhere from garage bands to Lincoln Center and from Be-bop to Bluegrass. As a first-call bassist in the New England area, Peter has performed with members of the Boston Symphony, Jim Hurst (International Bluegrass Music Association's guitar-player of year), entertainers Don Rickles, Steve Allen, Scott Bakula, Maureen McGovern and Suzanne Somers. Peter's expertise in acoustic amplification has kept him busy as a technical consultant to a who's who of artists including Acoustic Alchemy, Barenaked Ladies, Daughtry, Sheryl Crow, Count Basie Orchestra, Doc Watson, Jerry Douglas, Dixie Chicks, Lisa Loeb, Lyle Lovett, Avril Lavigne, Dave Mathews, John Mayer, Joe Perry, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon and Pete Townshend.
PETER FRAENKEL, drums
As a high school student, Peter studied drums and percussion with renowned teachers Fred Buda and Alan Dawson at the Berklee College of Music and privately, and then attended the New England Conservatory as a percussion major, where he studied with Frank Epstein and Fred Buda. He has performed with a wide range of musicians and singers, including Claudio Roditi, Jed Levy, Fred Hersch, Paul Meyers, and Margaret Whiting, and in a wide range of styles from jazz to Brazilian to funk and rock. Recently, he has recorded and performed with noted contemporary singer/songwriter Lisa Lynne Mathis, and is a regular recording artist for Second Act Studios in New York. Peter's international career has taken him across NorthAmerica as well as to such far-flung cities as Nairobi, London, Santiago, and Hong Kong.
Praise for theJazz Arts Trio
Swing of Many Colors
-“Wearing his jazz hat, Moyer teamed with old friends Peter Fraenkel, bass, and Peter Tillotson, drums, to form the Jazz Arts Trio. The group does something unusual: It uses well-regarded jazz recordings as though they were classical scores, reinterpreting them in contemporary studio environments ... Moyer, Tillotson and Fraenkel spiritedly recapture the rapport of Jamal with bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier ... These are all great as indications of the Jazz Arts Trio’s affinity for diverse trio styles, but the real treasure of this disc is the monument it raises to Jamal and his sidemen at that Chicago gig so many years ago.” THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
-“Pianist Frederick Moyer has written his own software for some of his performances, but not these. Instead, the classical concert pianist—who has performed all over the world and recorded for the GM, Biddulph and JRI labels—here transcribed every note of the original recordings by Ahmad Jamal, Red Garland, etc., while his two cohorts also transcribed all of the bass and drum parts … a delight to hear. Five out of five stars.” AUDIOPHILE AUDITION
-“I was amazed by my initial visceral reaction to George and Ira Gershwin's 'But Not For Me.' This was more than just a transcription and re-interpretation of an influential jazz classic, this was an uncannily accurate transcription of time and history, personal and musical. ... Rogers and Hammerstein's 'The Surrey With the Fringe on Top' made my knees weak ... by the time Karl Suessdorf /John Blackburn's 'Moonlight in Vermont' crested, I needed something to hold on to. ... What is important, and ultimately will be enduring about Swing of Many Colors is the effect it has on its listeners. It is the effect that removes any doubt about the need for such an interpretive retrospective, and makes moot such questions as: Why? Is it necessary?” JAZMUZIC.COM
-“A more solid sepia of past jazz giants there isn't!! The Frederick Moyer- Peter Fraenkel- Peter Tillotson jazz group is a dead ringer to re-illustrate the talents of such luminaries as Oscar Peterson, Jarrett, McPartland, Chick, et al. The N. E. based group succeeds in convincing us their listeners that their interpretations create a freshness that is both diverse and dynamic. In their performance, one notes the quality and the pictorial canvas they paint in the re-creation of the art of each artist ... the final musical product remains fresh and young!” THE CABARET EXCHANGE
Tribute
-“It certainly is quite a monumental undertaking to reproduce these performances of Oscar and his trio, both to capture the technical wizardry and artistic sensitivity of Oscar’s playing and to also render well the significantly worked out arrangements by the trio, and Moyer and his trio do both impressively.” CADENCE
-“To be succinct, this is a jazz trio to be reckoned with … This trio succeeds where other jazz trios fall light in that they renew our hopes about the staying power of our beloved jazz idiom.” EJAZZ NEWS
-“A note-for-note replication of any performance could be one of the hardest things to do in jazz. Being able to sound like a soloing Bill Evans and his groundbreaking rhythm section is probably even harder. But we don't give points in jazz for cloning. Clones may possess identical physiology, but they haven't the same personality or spirit. The music still has to move us. This performance does so.” JAZZ.COM
-“…their familiarity comes across as Tillotson and Fraenkel provide sensitive, tasty accompaniment to Moyer’s expansive piano improvisations… This solid trio generates plenty of excitement to keep the listener engaged.” JAZZ AND BLUES REPORT
-“This disc is highly recommended, especially for fans of Oscar Peterson and lovers of lively up-tempo piano jazz in general.”JAZZREVIEW.COM
-“…the notes are the notes of the … artists, but the guys in the JAT still have their own fingerprints and personal touch, so the tunes have a breath and stamp of their own. Moyer’s light and clean sound is perfectly suited for the Oscar Peterson’s breezy swing on the clever and tricky “Something’s Coming” and the shifting rhythms of “Bossa Beguine.” Evans’ “My Foolish Heart” has a Debussyish spaciousness, and Hancock’s “First Trip” has an airy joy to it. It’s fascinating to figure out how much of the actual sound belongs to the present performer, and how much is from the person of tribute. Quite unique in concept, with a bravo performance.” JAZZWEEKLY.COM
-“…the Jazz Arts Trio's transcriptions and recital are compelling. The trio's performance of the transcription of Bill Evans' 1961 Village Vanguard version of "My Foolish Heart" illustrates the chops and artistry of its members. Moyer proves a careful study of piano styles. His play on Evans has the same light, ethereal touch of the originator, like a wisp of mist. Tillotson's Scott LaFaro impersonation is impressive, if understated, and Fraenkel's Paul Motian is dead on.” ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM
Watch the Jazz Arts Trio in action!
"Blues Etude" performed at the Newport Music Festival
(originally performed by the Oscar Peterson Trio)
"Something's Coming" (originally performed by the Oscar Peterson Trio)
"(They Long to Be) Close to You" (originally performed by Erroll Garner and his Trio)
"Billy Boy" (originally performed by the Red Garland Trio)
"You Look Good to Me" (originally performed by the Oscar Peterson Trio)
"First Trip" (originally performed by the Herbie Hancock Trio)
"Bossa Beguine" (originally performed by the Oscar Peterson Trio)
